Improved combined knife and fork



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FETE.

JOHN S. JENNINGS, OF BUFFALO, NEV YORK.

IMPROVED COMBINED KNIFE AND FORK.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 57,918, dated September1l, 1866.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN S. JENNINGS, of the city of Buffalo, in thecounty of Erie and State of New York, have invented a new and ImprovedOneHanded Knife and Fork; and I do hereby declare that the following' isa full and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which-Figure l is a side view of the same. Fig. 2 is a similar view,representing the knife in the position for cnttin g. Fig. 3 is alongitudinal section.

Like letters designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

It is the object of my invention to provide for those who have the useof but one hand an instrument which will perform the functions both of afork and knife, and thus, in eating, repair to a great extent theinconvenience arising from the want of both hands; and the inventionconsistsin combining a cutting-blade, which is pivoted to acase orsleeve sliding upon the shank or tines of a fork, and provided with athumb or finger piece, serving as a handle, whereby a reciprocatingmotion may be given to the blade for cutting by the use of one tinger,while the handle of the fork is firmly held in the hand and, also, inthe employment of a socket or other suitable bearing, whereby the thumbmay be employed to give the requisite pressure on the blade and leavethe iin ger entirely free to perform the reciprocating strokes forcutting.

As represented in the drawings, A is the handle, and B the tines, of thefork. The

latter, as well as the shank, is preferably lnade straight, or nearlyso, and are provided with the slots c and d, for a purpose that will beexplained. A sleeve or case, E, is fitted to slide easily over thetines, and pivoted to this by means of the screw f, or other suitable device, is the curved shank g of the blade or knife H. Anarm, lr, extendsfrom this pivot upward and is bent outwardly, and provided with a loopor finger-hole, I. rlhe blade forms a segment of a circle, of which thepivot f is the center, and when the fork-handle is grasped by the handthe foretinger in the loop I is capable of giving' a range of motionsufcient to carry the entire cutting-edge of the blade backward andforward by the side of the forktines.

The pivot-screw f enters ya spur or boss on one end of a plate, my,(most clearly shown in Fig. 3,) which boss tits in the slotc of the forkso as to move easilytherein. The opposite end of the plate m has a spuror pin, which projects through the slot d in the shank of the fork, andhas riveted or otherwise secured to its end the socket or thumb piece L.lnserted in the slot c, below the spur of m, which moves therein, andbearin g against it, is a spiral spring, 0, which is completely inclosedand concealed by the sleeve E. Its office is to keep the knife raised,as in Fig. l, so that it will not interfere with the fork when that isrequired to be used alone. The projections on the ends of the plate m,passing through the two slots c and d, form a guide to the mo- Ation ofthe knife when moving up and down on the fork, and secure its steadyaction.

It is obvious that the pressure necessary to,

overcome the spring o may be imparted by the finger while working theknife in cutting, and thethumb-piece L thereby dispensed with; but Iprefer to employ this appendage, so that that the thumb may be employedto press the knife as it cuts into the food, which will frcquently proveof great convenience, especially to those in a feeble condition.

As represented in the drawings, the instrument constitutes a combinedknife and fork for the left hand. To adapt it to the righthand it isonly necessary to place the knife on the opposite side ofthe fork-achange easily accomplished.

A little practice will enable those who have had the misfortune to losea hand to acquire the use of this implement, and overcome,

to a great extent, that helplessness incident to their loss. What Iclailn as my invention, and desire to

